In using tape transports with fast forward and rewind operation, when the listener desires to skip a portion of the tape being played or to play back a passage of the tape which has already been played, the tape drive is shifted to move the tape much faster than the normal playing speed. One major problem with such operation of tape transports is the operator's determination of the exact point on the tape at which the transport will resume play when the high speed drive is deactivated if the listener must use a hit and miss technique.
In recent years tape transports with cartridge and cassette type tapes that can be loaded simply by introducing the cartridge or cassette into a loading recess have appeared, often for use with prerecorded tapes, which have extended the use of tape transports to vehicles and other activities in which more extensive manipulations than mere loading cannot be allowed to distract the operator's attention from a main activity, such as driving a vehicle.
Various methods have been tried for overcoming the uncertainty and difficulty of stopping fast tape movement. For example, to assist the operator, U.S. Pat. No. 3,665,117, Staar, discloses a device having a detecting circuit which automatically stops the fast forward run or rewind of the tape in the non-recorded sections that often precede recorded sections to be played back, while simultaneously bringing the normal playback mode back into operation.
However, operators will be greatly assisted if a more simplified device than Staar's is available which operates with the same controls already present for normal fast forward and rewind, while preserving the option of normal fast forward and rewind; fewer controls and simpler mechanism and operation will lead to more error free enjoyment and reduce the chance of distracting the operator from a primary activity.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to present a tape transport having manually selectable detecting fast forward and detecting rewind skip speeds manually engageable in a simple manner and operating until a non-recorded section of tape moves across the tape head.
It is a further object of this invention to provide for selection of normal fast forward and rewind skip speeds in addition to the option of the detecting fast forward and detecting rewind speeds.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide simplified controls for shifting between the play speed and any of the skip speeds, preferably by adapting controls already usually present for fast forward and rewind skip speeds, either of the two button type or in the form of a single control lever.
Yet another object of this invention is to effect the choice and automatic features of the detecting and normal skip speeds by a simple movable plate engageable in selective operative positions and responsive to the speed of a drive means and an input from a detecting means for distinguishing between recorded and non-recorded sections on the tape moving past the transport's tape head, the plate serving to move the tape head between play, detecting skip, and normal skip positions.